Toronto Maple Leafs: Handing Out the NHL Awards at Christmas

Toronto Maple Leafs players have been familliar with awards over the past few seasons, thanks to the emergence of Auston Matthews.

When Matthews won the Hart Trophy last year, that was the first time a Toronto Maple Leafs player had won that award since 1955, which is an amazing accomplishment. Obviously, the only award this market cares about winning is a Stanley Cup, but it’s still a nice honour.

Not only did Matthews win the Hart Trophy last year, but he’s also won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy twice and a Calder Trophy for the league’s best rookie.

Although it’s tough to give out awards this early into the season, we already have a strong indication of where this campaign is heading. There are many names that we all recognize, while many others that are new and surprising.

One of the biggest surprises of the year are the Dallas Stars and Jason Robertson’s season, so it’ll be interesting to see where he nets on in the Hart Trophy race this year.

The same can be said about the Vezina Trophy as there are a few individuals who could be picking up their first award or even nominee this season.

Regardless, let’s walk through the Hart Trophy, Norris Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Jack Adams Award and see who’s currently in the lead at Christmas.

No. 1: Hart Trophy

• Nominees:
  • Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
  • Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars
  • Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
• Toronto Maple Leafs Nominee:
  • Auston Matthews
• Christmas Winner: 
  • Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Don’t count Matthews out, yet. Although he’s not scoring at the same pace he was last year, he’s bound to heat up and get back into the race for the “Rocket” Richard Trophy, which would then get him into the MVP vote.

McDavid is the clear-cut winner of this trophy and will win if he’s stay healthy for the rest of the year. He’s having one of his best career seasons, averaging two-points per game and is a walking video game.

If the Stars can pull away and finish with the best-record in the West, and Edmonton somehow misses the playoffs, I can see the vote turning to Robertson, but that seems like a lot that has to happen.

As for Crosby, I believe he should be in the mix, as he currently has Pittsburgh in a playoff spot and is this in the NHL in even-strength goals. Even in his 18th year, he’s delievering at a world-class level, putting his team on his back every night.

No. 2: Norris Trophy

• Nominees:
  • Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks
  • Cale Makar, Coloardo Avalanche
  • Rasmus Dahlin, Nashville Predators
• Toronto Maple Leafs Nominee:
  • Timothy Liljegren
• Christmas Winner:
  • Cale Makar, Coloardo Avalanche

Although he’s not averaging the same amount of points as Karlsson and Dahlin, he’s a point-per-game player and one of the only reasons why the Avalanche are even in a playoff hunt.

The team has been hit with the injury bug huge this year and without Makar, they could easily be a team that misses the playoffs.

Karlsson may be scoring at will, but I’d say the person closest to Makar right now is Dahlin. The former first-overall pick is playing over 26 minutes of ice-time each night, while contributing at a high-level offensively. He’s turning into the prospect that everyone hoped he would.

As for the Leafs, what else can you say about Liljegren? Despite the multple injuries to the blue-line, he’s been steady all year and has been the team’s best defenseman. You may not believe it yet, but Liljegren is due for a huge payraise soon.

No. 3: Vezina Trophy

• Nominees:
  • Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins
  • Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
  • Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders
• Toronto Maple Leafs Nominee:
  • Ilya Samsonov
• Christmas Winner:
  • Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins

Ullmark leads the NHL is save percentage, goals against average and is currently 18-1-1 on the season. He’s pretty much playing like the greatest goalie to ever live right now so it seems impossible to give this award to anyone else, yet.

It’ll be impossible for Ullmark to keep this record and stats up for the rest of the season, so I do think when it’s all set-and-done that he won’t win the actual award, and instead it’ll go to Sorokin.

The New York Islanders are not a good hockey team, but Sorokin is keeping them afloat. If the Islanders somehow make the playoffs, I can see voters picking him because his stats are incredible too.

As for the Leafs, although it’s a toss-up, I’d say that Samsonov is currently the team’s Vezina Trophy nominee. Him and Murray have both been fantastic all year, but Samsonov’s stats are a little better and he seems more reliable at the moment.

We’ll see how the rest of the season unfolds, but maybe one of Murray or Samsonov will fall into a nomination by year’s end.